Saturday, November 08, 2008

Still cranky

I guess since it's easier to hide my minority traits, I shouldn't equate our struggle for civil rights to that of African Americans. Hello?! It's the same frigging thing. How is our history so vastly different? For centuries we've been loathed and despised, feared and mocked, discriminated against in nearly every way. We don't have that slavery thing, but we do have legions who were forced (okay chose, but chose only for self preservation) to live their life as a lie, to conform to the "norm" that most heterosexuals simply take for granted. Nearly every gay person today, and especially gay men, went through a tortuous existence in the public school system. I know I did. I was attacked and beaten because my gayness was sensed. And that was before I would even admit it to myself. (because that was about the worst thing you could be - a faggot)

And excuse me, but how can a straight person have the audacity to tell me my homosexuality was a choice? It's rubbish. Nobody chooses what makes their (sorry for my frankness) dick hard.

I'm tired of hearing people who have no experience in our struggle telling me the struggle is invalid, unworthy and, the most chapping of my hide, an abomination against god. How can someone not call it "hate" when they're slinging around the word "abomination". I wish I were in California right now because I would be out in the streets with my brethren.

Well said. I watched Bill Moyers on PBS last night. He did a very interesting piece of the struggles of blacks; it was a lead up to his panel on Obama. It was well done. At first as I saw them dragging, lynching and stoning blacks I felt that "our" struggle is not the same. Then I got to thinking: True we haven't endured slavery yet we've been, as you put it, "loathed and despised" and beaten for centuries. Long before slavery.

Prop 8 was a vote against civil rights. Could you imagine the outcome if society were allowed to vote on integration and "black" rights in the 60s?

Well, I sure as hell wouldn't choose to be straight. At least not at this point in my life.

I see it as more akin to the problem of mixed race people who can "pass". Do you deny that part of your identity to get by more easily, or are you honest with yourself and with others? That analogy may not resonate with younger people of colour, but I bet there are plenty from older generations who would understand it better.

Aside from that, I could pull out a Bible and find the passages that were used to condemn interracial marriage and justify black slavery. I was taught about them in Sunday school growing up. But nobody brings out those passages and argues that maybe the Bible isn't being interpreted correctly.

Even if being gay were a choice, shouldn't we, as adults, be able to make that choice without this persecution and loss of our civil rights and legal protections? I was born the way I was born, but I refuse to get into the argument of choice because it is irrelevant: we are adults having relationships and that is not grounds for discrimination, nature, nurture or otherwise. We were imprisoned and killed in the gas chambers, we were burned at the stakes, we were arrested, fired, kicked out of our homes, our towns. Our names were put in the paper to publicly humiliate us. Our bars were raided and patrons blackmailed and beaten. We are terrorized in schools and locker rooms with no protection from our faculty. Our parents disowned us.We are banned from obtaining marriage rights and adopting children. All because a majority of people do not approve of who we love or have sex with. This is outrageous, and any minority who has been through the struggle and can't see the same pattern is a moron. Any human being that can justify these atrocities towards us has no true humanity. It is disgusting and vile. No excuses. I feel your pain and your anger, and I envy your ability to live and work in and contribute to a society and government that supports you and your partner. Would that we could cross the border tomorrow and stay and work and live, we would. In a heartbeat.

I think you’d be interested in the Charlie Rose interview this week of Mitchell Gold.It’s about his new book "Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America"

I grew up in the 60's and yes there were many propositions to allow Blacks the vote. Everyone was defeated because the White Majority didn't want to share the equality. It took a strong leader as in LBJ to stand up and say it is time to stop the nonsense but he didn't do it without the Blacks rioting and burning Watts and several areas in every large city. It will be a long hard road for Gays to achieve equality. ed

Not to mention that many people of colour are gay as well. But all people have the vote and it's a matter of as with Obama [and for that matter with the religious right], getting the people who do support you out and voting. I agree with the head of state in Spain who mentioned that the passing of same sex marriage benefited all Spanish citizens.

I wish I was in California right now too. And that's not just the three inches of snow on the ground talking.

I think Americans are headed for dangerous times. I just read that gun and ammo sales have gone up in the five days Obama has been President-Elect. The rednecks are armed, people. The night of the election, a southern Baptist church burned. Coincidence? An Obama supporter had a cross burned in their yard wrapped with an Obama banner.

It seems as though the "White Christian Right" is a little pissed off about something. Gay, Black, Female, whatever, I think we're all about to see some extreme cases of prejudice.

Rather than the question of whether Gay Liberation or Afr. Amer. Civil Rights movement are comparable as the "same" or "different," I would suggest that they have been historically intertwined. They were not distinct movements, but rather shared important connections, philosophies, members, and leaders (Hello, Bayard Rustin).

As a friend of mine put it, no matter if being gay is a choice or a biological happening, our civil rights were and are being violated.

Plain and simple, folks.

Our Constitution and Bill of Rights were created to protect us from people with agendas based in religion.

For all the good religion can do when used properly, it can be perverted into something horrible.

We've reached it many times, and this is just another notch on the belt of people who think treating gays -or for that matter, anyone who disagrees with their POV - as nothing but second class, biological errors is somehow good and Godly.

A line has now been drawn in the sand, and its time that they understand the full power that we really, truly have.

I'm pissed. I have been reading blogs all evening and I see that everyone is pissed.

I just read a book about the Stonewall riots. And I'm seeing a lot of comparison to the race riots of 40+ years ago. Is it time? Do we need to do that? I hope, I wish it could be done without the violence. We should know better by now, don't you think? But so far it isn't working.

If one looks at all of the Laws of Laviticus ( over 200+ ) Most say the same thing. It is an abomination to ________ fill in the blank. Abomination simply meant you broke the rule. It's an abomination to eat shrimp. It's an abomination to work on the Sabbath etc etc etc. Punishment? Why death of course. The whole thing is crazy. I often wonder when straight people "chose" to like the opposite sex? If it was a choice, then they must like the same sex as well and they chose the opposite. Doesn't make sense, they know it, and we know it. My blood boils when some ignorant person with no education in biology, psychology or the plethora of studies based on human sexuality, and the latest studies that lean towards orientation being decided in the womb through an host of reasons, says they "believe" we make a choice. They base it on nothing but prejudices or what their preacher has told them. What a good scientific source. It is irrelevent what they think and it should be dismissed as such.

Actually, your struggle is VERY similar to mine. What I'm hearing is some of my people are aware of nuances ( whatever the heck that means, I'm under 25) of the different struggles and don't like being lumped as if they history is not special. Here is an article I found when I did a wiki on Barney Frank about gays and blacks:http://www.keithboykin.com/author/bfrank.html